Saturday, May 24, 2014

Irvine Valley: Fabulous Factoids

     You can see IVC commencement photos here (Facebook).

     SPECIALNESS. Recently, the Reb, who co-chairs the English Dept., has been busy dealing with the usual end-of-semester emergencies, including student complaints about a certain part-timer who seems to have become unavailable. Yesterday, thanks to the OC Reg, we discovered something of the nature of her unavailability. It seems that she has “been indicted on charges that” she and a small crew “defrauded 3,500 people of more than 13.5 million in what OC prosecutors believe is the largest loan-modification scheme ever prosecuted in the nation” (Huntington attorney among 7 accused of $13.5 million loan-mod scam, OC Reg).
     “Do you suppose she’ll be turning in her classes’ grades?” asks the Reb.
     Maybe not.
     The Reb tells me that her favorite lines in the Reg article are these: “[Deputy District Attorney Megan] Wagner said the scam targeted people around the country, but victims were concentrated in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, South Carolina and North Carolina. She said it’s common for such operations to be based in Orange County, though it’s unclear why.” (See also NavelGazing.)

     TOP NOTCH. IVC President Glenn Roquemore’s “Open Door” newsletter updates the campus community about two campus building projects:

Linda Fontanilla, Liz Cipres, and
other top notch administrators
#1Long-suffering members of IVC’s School of Humanities and Languages—which, BTW, will divide into two separate schools in the Fall (thereupon they’ll make twice as much trouble)—are looking forward to a move into a newly-reconstructed A-400 building in about a year:
Work is slated to begin on the A-400 site on May 27. First, a fence will go up around the building and in Parking Lot 2…. At that point, the restroom in A-400 will no longer be open to the public as the building water will be shut off. The maintenance crew is aware of this and will redouble their efforts to keep the A-200 restroom in top notch condition…. Demolition of A-400 will follow after that, and we hope to get the plans through final approval at the Department of State Architects soon thereafter, so actual construction can begin.
—Did you catch that blarney about keeping “the A-200 restroom in top notch condition”? A wonder what bottom notch looks like. A pit of raw sewage?

     Here’s #2: the new “Barranca” entrance:
Plans for the new entrance, "Laser Way," are currently being finalized and reviewed by both the City of Irvine and … SCE. … Once the easements are established, the project will be able to start in two to three months and will take approximately six months to finish….
Love one day, hate the next
The Reb and Virginia at Gabbi's three months ago
     You’ll recall that, as usual, much thought (haha) went into naming the new entry road. For a while, the frontrunner among proposals seemed to be “Dissent the Road,” but Rocky nixed that. As you know, for years, there’s been much grumbling about the campus mascot (or entity, or whatever it is): the laser. At one point, a committee was formed to find a replacement. But then stuff came up and the group got distracted, stopped meeting, wandered off. The usual. Then, six or so months ago, we heard that administrators were fixin’ to call the new road “Laser.” We (at the Senate) said: don’t do that. That’ll render permanent our laserization. Why would we want to do that? Didn’t we decide to dump that moniker?
     So, natch, that’s what they did.
     I’m thinking of spreading a rumor around town that Laser Way will be lined with lasers that will automatically fix on passing cars and pedestrians and burn them to a crisp. That’ll give us that “high tech” reputation we’re always yammerin’ about.

     WINGING IT. As you know, our very own Virginia Shank, poet, was named IVC Professor of the Year. She’s very deserving of that award.
     I’m told that, at yesterday’s Commencement, just before she gave her address, the administrative crew couldn’t find her plaque.
     She winged it and gave a fine speech. Or so I’m told.
     Seen her velomobile?

Yes, Virginia really does ride to work in this thing

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...